Stephen King‘s classic novel Carrie is coming back as a limited series on FX. Published in 1974, the original novel told the story of Carrie White, a shy girl with a crazed religious nut for a mother who becomes the target of brutal high school bullying. But the bullies soon learn to regret picking on Carrie, as the girl possesses telekinetic powers that come out in violent fashion after one final humiliation.
The debut novel for future horror master King, Carrie established the writer’s reputation as a best-selling author, with the paperback edition selling over 1 million copies. The novel was first adapted into a feature film in 1976 with Sissy Spacek in the title role, a supporting cast that included Piper Laurie, John Travolta, Nancy Allen and Amy Irving and the legendary Brian De Palma as director. The film received a sequel in 1999 titled The Rage: Carrie 2, with Emily Bergl as the late Carrie’s telekinetic half-sister. The story came to television in a 2002 TV movie starring Angela Bettis and Patricia Clarkson, and was re-made for the big screen in 2013 with Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie, Julianne Moore as Carrie’s mother and Kimberly Peirce in the director’s chair.
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With King adaptations once again red-hot in Hollywood, FX will team with MGM to resurrect Carrie one more time, developing a limited series based on the novel (via Collider). Interestingly, the plan this time reportedly is to have a trans actor or person of color play the title role, breaking with the book and all the other adaptations where Carrie is a white cis female.
For FX and MGM, Carrie marks their second collaboration after their successful series Fargo, which is set to return for a fourth and final season in 2020 with Chris Rock heading up the cast. It’s of course no surprise to see FX looking for a King work to adapt given how hot the author currently is in entertainment, with movie studios, TV networks and streamers all lining up to get their piece of the King pie. A small sampling of upcoming King projects includes HBO’s The Outsider, CBS All Access’s The Stand, Blumhouse’s Firestarter and Apple TV+’s Lisey’s Story.
At least in the case of FX’s Carrie, it appears producers will try to put somewhat of a new spin on the material by changing up the lead character and bringing in a new dynamic. The idea of a trans person or person of color in the role of Carrie White is an intriguing one, as it will give the new series a chance to be topical instead of merely presenting the same terrifying story all over again. It will be interesting to see who ultimately lands the role of Carrie in this new adaptation, and how the change in the lead character will affect the overall story.
Source: Collider
